Machine for sewing fabrics



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet l.

0. MGNEIL MACHINE FOR SEWING FABRICS. N0. 53l,741. Patented Jan. 1, 1895.

A Witnesses: L Inventor. flwfw WM Attorney.

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

C. MONEIL. MACHINE FOR SEWING FABRICS;

No 531,741. Patented Jan. 1, 1895.

Attorney.

UNITED STATES PATENT CHESTER MCNEIL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNION SPECIAL SEWING MACHINE COMPANY, OF ILLINOIS.

MACHINE FOR SEWING FABRlCS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 531,741, dated January 1, 1895.

Application filed August 10, 1893. Serial No. 482 flll No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern: before may be constructed in any suitable Be it known that I, CHESTER MONEIL, of Chimanner. cago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have B is the railway arranged along the floor or invented an Improvement in Machines for in any manner so long as it is parallel to the Sewing Fabrics, of which the following is a support for the fabric.

specification. O is a carriage of any suitable construction My invention has reference to machines for traveling upon the railway B and carrying sewingfabrics andconsists of certainimprovethe sewing machine D which may be of any ments which are fully set forth in the followconstruction, though preferably of the type [0 ing specifiication and shown in the accompaknown as the Union Special sewing ma- 6o nying drawings, which form a part thereof. chine.

My invention comprehends certain im- G is a rack arranged along the table or held provements in machines designed to sew long in any suitable manner parallel to the raillengths of carpets or other fabrics, and in way track. 4

I 5 carrying out my invention I employ a long E is aband wheel carried upon the carriage table or support for the fabric, combined with O and connected by a band 3 with the sewing a railway arranged parallel to the support machine D. The band wheel E is arranged and upon which a' carriage travels, a sewto be driven at a high speed by means of suiting machine carried upon. the carriage and able gearing F meshing with the rack G. It

20 adapted to sew the fabric supported upon the will be observed that as the carriage O travtable or support, a traveling rope or power els upon the railway, the said motion imparts conveyer,a gripping device upon the carriage a rotation to the shaft of the sewing machine for connecting or disconnecting it with the causing it to perform the function of sewing, traveling rope or power conveyor whereby and the speed of the sewing it will be seen is 2 5 the said carriage and sewing machine maybe dependent upon and commensurate with the caused to travel parallel to the table, and speed of travel of the carriage as it should be. power transmitting devices between the sew- H is an endless band guided about guide ing machine and the table or other fixed suppulleys at each end of the table or support port whereby when the carriage is moved and is caused to constantly travel about the go relatively to the table or suport the sewing said guide pulleys by means of an electric or machine is operated. These various devices other motor I. may be modified or varied in a variety of J is a suitable gripping device carried by ways while still involving the same general the carriage and adapted to grasp the endless features. The support for the fabric, while cable H and thereby propel the carriage.

35 preferably in the form of a table, may be any When the handle K of the gripping device is 8 5 means which will hold the fabric in arelative turned to the right or left it operates an ceposition to the railway so that the sewing macentric kthereby causing the jaws of the grip chine may properly act upon the edges for the to tighten upon the traveling cable H impartthe purpose of uniting them. ing motion to the carriage 0.

a In the drawings: Figure 1 is a front ele- It will be evident that if the cable H were vation of a machine for sewing fabrics emmade to directly operate the sewing machine, bodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a cross secdifficulties would arise from the fact that the tional elevation of same on line a:ac. Fig. 3 sewing machine would be operating at a conis an enlarged front elevation of the gripping stant speed irrespective of the travel of the 4 5 device. Fig. eisa front elevation of a modificarriage relatively to the fabric, which would 9 5 cation of my invention. Fig. 5 is a cross secbe undesirable. By my improvement, howtional elevation of same on line y-y of Fig. ever, the operation of the sewing machine is 4; and Fig. 6 is an enlarged front elevation of commensurate with the travel of the carriage one form of gripping device. 0 so that every stitch is of the same length 50 A is the table or support, and as stated whether the carriage is moving fast or slow.

'cable.

It will be understood thatI do not confine mysely to any particular construction of power device between the stationary rack G and the sewing machine D as a large variety of ways may be employed for imparting motive power to the sewing machine, though that shown is excellently adapted to the purpose. A clutch fmay be employed to disconnect the band wheel E from the gearing F to be used when the machine is to be run backward, but it is also clear that various methods may be employed to throw off the operation of the sewing machine during the return of the carriage. In some types of sewing machines there is a clutch upon the band wheel, and this might be connected or disconnected as required.

In the construction shown 011 sheet 2 I have the endless cable H, and in place of the rigid grip J, I provide a clutch shown in Fig. 6 consisting of four pulleys M arranged in pairs, two of which are carried upon spring hearin gs N. A frame it acts upon the outer ends of the spring bearings to depress them until the cable H is grasped under the action of an cecentric k moved by a lever K. When the spring bearings are depressed the pulleys M carried by said spring bearings are forced toward the pulleys M carried upon the stationary part of the grip, and this gradually grips the cable H with an elastic pressure, overcoming the danger to the apparatus which would result from suddenly gripping the This device constitutes an elastic gripping device and is the preferable form. The table or support and carriage, sewing machine, pulleys E, band 6, and gear F are substantially the same in the construction shown in Figs. 4 and 5 as in the case of Figs. 1 and 2. In place of the rack G, a stationary cable G is employed in the modification, the said cable being passed about a pulley L adapted to drive a gearing F for operating the sewing machine. The movement of the carriage 0 causes the pulley L to travel on the stationary cable G and thereby cause it to rotate with the speed commensurate to that of the travelof the carriage, thus causing the sewing machine to operate at the proper speed to insure uniform stitches when uniting the fabric.

I do not confine myself to any special details of construction as they may be modified more or less without departing from the principles of the invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a machine for sewing fabrics, the combination of a support for the fabric, a railway parallel to the support, a carriage adapted to travel upon the railway, a sewing machine secured to the carriage, the traveling cable,- the grip secured to the carriage adapted to grasp the cable, and power devices for operating the sewing machine substantially as set out.

2. In a machine for sewing fabrics, the combination of a support for the fabric, a railway parallel to the support, a carriage adapted to travel upon the railway, a sewing machine secured to the carriage, the traveling cable, the grip secured to the carriage adapted to grasp the cable, and power devices for operating the sewing machine consisting of a stationary part arranged parallel to the railway, a rotary part journaled upon the carriage and adapted to be rotated by the stationary part through frictional contact, and power transmitting devices between the rotary part and sewing machine substantially as set out.

3. In a machine for sewing fabrics, the combination of a support for the fabric, a railway parallel to the support, a carriageadapted to travel upon the railway, a sewing machine secured to the carriage, the traveling cable, the grip secured to the carriage adapted to grasp the cable, power devices for operating the sewing machine consisting of a stationary rack arranged parallel to the railway, gearing journaled upon the carriage and meshing with the said rack, and power transmitting connections'between the gearing and the sewing machine substantially as set out.

4. In a machine for sewing fabrics, the combination of a support for the fabric, a railway parallel to the support, a carriage adapted to travel upon the railway, a sewing machine secured to the carriage, the traveling cable, the grip secured to the carriage adapted to grasp the cable, and power devices for operating the sewing machine consisting of a stationary rack arranged parallel to the railway, gearing journaled upon the carriage and meshing with the said rack, and power transmitting connections between the gearing and the sewing machine, and means for throwing the sewing machine into or out of action substantially as set out.

5. In a machine for sewing fabrics, the combination of asupport for the fabric, a railway parallel to the support, a carriage adapted to travel upon the railway, a sewing machine secured to the carriage, a traveling cable, power devices for operating the sewing machine, and a grip carried with the carriage and having flexible or elastic gripping devices for gradually gripping the traveling cable to start the sewing machine gradually from a state of rest.

In testimony of which invention I have hereunto set my hand.

CHESTER MONEIL.

Witnesses:

.MORTON MCNEIL, Gno. H. LAUGGUTH. 

